# The superignorant
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 17, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885 "2014-11-17T19:48:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/1 "2014-11-17T19:48:09Z")
I really like this board. People ask questions, they get answers. Some times I think the questions are stupid, but they still deserve polite answers and this board will supply them. And if they’re not so polite your friendly neighbourhood mod will chastise the offender.
But some posters ask questions (and sometimes give answers) not based on a lack of knowledge, but based on a superabundance of flawed knowledge that they’re not open to re-evaluating, so politely answering their questions and pointing out the flawed assumptions underlying them gets nowhere. Just a restatement of the original question.
“No, your statement that only iron rusts and copper gains protection from further oxidation by a layer of verdigris doesn’t answer my question of why the statue of Liberty hasn’t rusted away by now. And no, I’m not interested in corrosion of the inner iron skeleton, why hasn’t the surface rusted away like on a car?”
Of course yelling at them doesn’t work any better than it does with regular humans, which is why I’ve retreated to this place to vent. Also I’m sure any resulting thread will eventually devolve into claiming half the posters here fall into this category and then I can go back to despairing for humanity as a whole rather than worrying about the subset of the supermisinformed.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/2 "2014-11-17T20:05:42Z")
If black boxes are indestructible, why don’t they make the whole plane like that?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/3 "2014-11-17T20:34:40Z")
This is the point at which some know-it-all will refer to the _Dunning-Kruger effect_, so I will:
> **[Dunning–Kruger effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)**
>
> The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. It was first described by David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999. Some researchers also include the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills. In popular culture, the Dunning–Kruger effect is often misunderstood as a claim about general overconfidence of people with low intelligence instead of specific overconfidence...
> [@](#):
>
> The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias whereby unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than is accurate. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their ineptitude.
>
> …
>
> If you’re incompetent, you can’t know you’re incompetent. […] the skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is.
>
> —David Dunning[7]
The potentially scary part about this (which I guess the Superignorant don’t consider) is that there’s no reason that this effect can’t apply to you, yourself. And if it did, you would, by the terms of the effect, not be aware that it did. This should have a sobering effect. But it probably won’t.
Still, I like to think that I’m at least more savvy than the guy who inspired the study:
> [@](#):
>
> The study was inspired by the case of McArthur Wheeler, a man who robbed two banks after covering his face with lemon juice in the mistaken belief that, as lemon juice is usable as invisible ink, it would prevent his face from being recorded on surveillance cameras.[4
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/4 "2014-11-17T22:52:25Z")
A great deal of posters on this very message board that claims to fight “ignorance” fall into this category. It’s a sad state of humanity when the smartest, coolest, hippest and smartest people on the internet are dumb.
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### Author:  [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/5 "2014-11-17T23:37:31Z")
I can’t remember the fancy terms, but there are related psychological effects that are big allies of ignorance. If you’re confronted with information that contradicts deeply held beliefs you’re more liable to double down on the original belief than reject it. If people hear that something isn’t true, later they will conflate it with the truth.
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### Author:  [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/6 "2014-11-17T23:48:31Z")
How can you break wind? Seriously, if people could break wind I’m sure we’d be out of wind by now. But we’re not.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/7 "2014-11-17T23:54:18Z")
> [@marshmallow](#):
>
> I can’t remember the fancy terms, but there are related psychological effects that are big allies of ignorance. If you’re confronted with information that contradicts deeply held beliefs you’re more liable to double down on the original belief than reject it. If people hear that something isn’t true, later they will conflate it with the truth.
One problem for some of us is when it is made into an emotional issue.
If someone says, “No, that’s not correct; the real answer is 54,” I’m much more willing to concede, “I must have been in error.”
But if they say, “Look, you jackass, you obviously don’t know anything about the subject, and I insist that you retract what you said right now,” then I’m gonna be emotionally involved. That leads to huffiness, stuffiness, and stubbornness.
Christians say, “Hate the sin, not the sinner.” We Dopers need to be more careful about attacking the error, and not the person who posted it. Cornering people and getting triumphalist on their asses is a poor educational process.
(Of course, if they persist beyond a reasonable degree, haul 'em into the Pit and fry 'em up. Fair is fair.)
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/8 "2014-11-18T01:45:12Z")
If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys.
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### Author:  [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/9 "2014-11-18T01:48:59Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys.
We have met the monkey and he is us.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/10 "2014-11-18T01:59:21Z")
Sometimes it’s just best to ignore the ignorant.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/11 "2014-11-18T02:14:20Z")
Wouldn’t work very good for the ignorant. If they ignore themselves… well, there are buses and stuff out there. Ignorant people ignoring themselves, pretty soon there wouldn’t…
Never mind.
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### Author:  [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/12 "2014-11-18T02:44:17Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> But some posters ask questions (and sometimes give answers) not based on a lack of knowledge, but based on a superabundance of flawed knowledge that they’re not open to re-evaluating, so politely answering their questions and pointing out the flawed assumptions underlying them gets nowhere. Just a restatement of the original question.
If your so smart maybe you can explain why their still monkeys if evolution is true. Lol nobody here can ever seem to that.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/13 "2014-11-18T02:48:05Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> I really like this board. People ask questions, they get answers. Some times I think the questions are stupid, but they still deserve polite answers and this board will supply them. And if they’re not so polite your friendly neighbourhood mod will chastise the offender.
>
> But some posters ask questions (and sometimes give answers) not based on a lack of knowledge, but based on a superabundance of flawed knowledge that they’re not open to re-evaluating, so politely answering their questions and pointing out the flawed assumptions underlying them gets nowhere. Just a restatement of the original question.
But, enough about the human caused climate change deniers in GD… 🙂
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### Author:  [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/14 "2014-11-18T02:48:24Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#):
>
> If your so smart maybe you can explain why their still monkeys if evolution is true. Lol nobody here can ever seem to that.
Sometimes dudes undergo what is called, nad-atavism, where they shoot monkey sperm. #jesuslovesu #mokeyspunk #yolo
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/15 "2014-11-18T03:01:36Z")
I actually thought Diane Kruger was pretty good in _National Treasure_. Not sure why people keep saying she’s dumb.
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### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/16 "2014-11-18T03:11:54Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys.
Because monkeys are funny.
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### Author:  [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/17 "2014-11-18T03:12:24Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#):
>
> I actually thought Diane Kruger was pretty good in _National Treasure_. Not sure why people keep saying she’s dumb.
Her dad is that ice cream guy that burned to death, right?
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/18 "2014-11-18T03:17:46Z")
> [@Lobohan](#):
>
> Her dad is that ice cream guy that burned to death, right?
No, he invented the supermarket.
CMC fnord!
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/19 "2014-11-18T03:19:25Z")
No, that guy’s named Kreuger, like his brother the coffee guy.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/20 "2014-11-18T03:22:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys.
We have to be evolved from monkeys because Kirk Cameron said that God made bananas for us.
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